USA > Nebraska > Sherman County > Loup City > The trail of the Loup; being a history of the Loup River region > Part 27
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founders of the American Order of Protection, though he later devoted all his time to law. He was elected county attorney of Garfield county in 1904 and fills the important position with much credit to himself and the party that elected him. Mr. Bragg married Miss Jennie M. Ginder in 1-85. The happy family, including parents and six children, is now nicely located in a beautiful home lately erected in the south part of the city.
CASH MERCANTILE CO .- The Cash Mercantile Co. is one of the
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thriving institutions of Burwell. Being the successor of Scott Brothers' old, well established general store, it carries with its new name all the trade of the old. The store is under the management of Peter Scott who is recognized as one of the most genial and able business men of our Valley. He together with his brother George F. Scott of Taylor constitute the company. The business, which is of the nature of general merchandise, is well stocked with all that pertains to a first-class store of this kind. Dry goods, shoes, and all kinds of fresh groceries are always kept in stock. By dint of hard work and unquestionable honesty the management of the Cash Mercantile Co. has built up a trade hard to excel.
CRAM, ALBERT I .- One of the younger business men in Burwell who is succeeding exceptionally well is Albert 1. Cram. He was born at Monmouth, Illinois, November 16, 1883, and moved with his parents to Loup county, Nebraska, in 1883. He remained on his father's farm till twenty-one years old, when he decided to prepare for a business career. The Monmouth, Illinois, graded schools had given him a foundation upon which to build. Some time spent at the David City High School and the Omaha Business College then prepared him for his chosen work. He en- tered the First Bank of Burwell as book keeper but was soon chosen to the responsible position of cashier. Four and one-half years later he became a member of Cram Brother, lumber dealers. When the firm was reorganized in 1900 under the name of Cram & Co., he was made manager. He married Effie V. Wilson and is the father of three children, two boys and one girl.
CRAM, WILBER I .- is proud that he comes of Irish ancestry, and one of his day-dreams for many years has been to visit the home of his fathers "across the big sea." He was born at historic Crown Point, New York, August 8, 1846, and remained there till eight years old, when he moved with his parents to Jackson county, Iowa. Here he remained for more than 27 years engaged in farming and stockraising. As a cattle judge and specialist he soon won more than local fåme. He became a breeder of thoroughbred swine and one of the originators of the American Poland China Record Association. While here he married Miss Honour Filby. They have four sturdy sons who are all making their way in the world. Thus O. E. Cram manages the old home ranch in Loup county, A. I. Cram is a noted Burwell lumber dealer, Fred C. Cram manages the stock- yards at Sargent, and John E. Cram is associated with his father in the Burwell stockyards. The Crams became pioneers in the unorganized ter- ritory which later became Loup county. They arrived in 1881, and home- steaded the southeast quarter of Section 3, Township 21, Range 19. Bv degrees they have added quarter to quarter till now the ranch, as W. J. calls it, contains 1,680 acres of good land. When they first took their claim the nearest neighbors were four miles away, and water had to be hauled in barrels a distance of seven miles. This led to the sinking of a well 300 feet deep, every foot of it dug by spade. In those days, too, the nearest freight depot was a hundred miles down the river. Mr. Cram feeds in the
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neighborhood of 500 steers on the ranch annually, and otherwise deals in in all kinds of livestock. He has lately completed a$4,000 residence prop- erty, including a waterworks plant.
COFFIN, HARRY J .- is a Yankee bred and born. He boasts descent from the historic Tristram Coffin who settled on Nantucket Island in the middle of the seventeenth century, and whose family is scattered far and wide over the American continent today. Harry J. was born at Boston, January 16, 1860. and remained in his native town till almost 18 years old. He was educated in the excellent public schools of the old "Hub" city, and later worked in an organ factory there for several years. He left the New England states and came to Nebraska in the spring of 1878. The first pause was made at Schuyler where he farmed for four years. In 1883 he took a pre-emption near O'Neill, but after six months removed to The Forks, Wheeler county, and took a homestead. He moved to Burwell in 1902 and purchased the Garfield county branch of the Howe Lumber Co., operating the same under the title of H. J. Coffin for some time. The firm name has, however, lately been changed to Burwell Lumber and Coal Co., with Mr. Coffin as pro- prietor. He also operates a lumber yard and general store at Elyria under the name of Elyria Mercantile Co., with J. E. Stingley as manager. Mr. Coffin is interested in a number of other enterprises and is an extensive land owner. He has been on the board of commissioners in his home county and has served several terms on the village board. In May, 1893, he married Miss Mary Halloran of Inman, Nebr. They have three daugh- ters and are nicely located in their elegantly appointed home within a block of the lumber yard.
DORAN, THOMAS H .- Representative from the 49th District, is an Irishman bred and born. He came out of the picturesque county Carlow and when only six months old arrived at New York with his parents. His history in this land of his adoption has been a very honorable one. Four years saw the family and young Thomas on the trail with faces set toward the great west. The first pause in the journey came in LaSalle county, Illinois. Here the Dorans remained ten years, indeed till 1865. The next move was to Livingston county where the elder Doran died. The care of the family now devolved on the fifteen year old Thomas. The worth of the man is shown in the ability and conscientiousness with which the stripling boy took his father's onerous duties upon himself. Comparative pros- perity came with hard work and in 1874 the westward march was continued to Beaver, Boone county, Iowa, where Mr. Doran engaged extensively in the grain, lumber and livestock business. His popularity and natural in- clination for politics were soon rewarded by his being made postmaster of Beaver. But it is his career in Nebraska that is our particular theme here. He arrived at Burwell in 1889, and in conjunction with his brother John
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bought the First Bank of Burwell, then operated by the First National Bank of Ord. As an important step in strengthening their banking insti- tution the brothers bought the Garfield County Bank and merged it with the First Bank. Mr. Doran was married at Boone, Iowa, to Miss Ettie Satterlee. Of the four children born to them only one, a son, reached ma- turity. The latter is now associated in business with his father. It is espe- cially for his activity in affairs pertaining to the welfare of his own village and district that Mr. Doran has earned the thanks of his neighbors and constituents. When the county seat question came up for the last time none was more active than Thomas Doran. He has also been a prominent mem- ber of the school board for fourteen years, and one of the town board al- most continually since its organization. In 1900 his brother's health failed. This led to the sale of the bank to Dann Bros. Mr. Doran and family now spent a year in restful travel in California and old Mexico. Upon return- ing home in 1901 he engaged in stock raising. His ranch is one of the largest in this part of the state, and is the home of many hundred head of cattle and horses. Several other enterprises in which he is interested should not be overlooked. Thus he became a member of the prominent lumber business of Cram & Co. in 1897. A few months ago he purchased A. A. Graber's hardware store and placed the same in charge of his son, and nephew. As stated above, Mr. Doran represents the 49th District in the State Legislature. He is a republican in politics, and his popularity is shown by the fact that he carried his district, which is strongly populistic, by no less than 252 votes.
DOUGLAS, L. P .- proprietor of the Burwell House, the leading hotel in Burwell, was born in New York state in 1843. He did not come West before 1876, when he first spent six years in Iowa, after which he moved to Omaha and engaged in the mercantile business. He and his wife are practical hotel people, having managed first-class hostelries in several cities. The Douglas family came to Burwell from Bellwood where they had pursued successfully in the same business. The Burwell house caters to both tran- sient and local trade.
THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK-had its genesis in the First Bank of Burwell, which was for some time operated by the First National Bank of Ord. In 1889 Thomas H. and John Doran purchased this institution and merged it with the Garfield County Bank, under the name, however, of the former. In 1900 the bank was sold by the Dorans to Dann Brothers. Since that time it has been re-organized as a National Bank with a capital of $25,000, under a new management of shrewd financiers and moneved men. The present officers and stockholders are: W. L. McMullen, president; E. Bailey, vice-president : J. M. Conrad, cashier ; W. I. Cram, J. A. Brownell, M. B. Goodenow, Geo. F. Scott and W. T. Barstow. This bank is doing much to promote the material progress of Garfield and Loup counties, and carries on a general banking business, receiving deposits, loaning money on approved security, discounting acceptable commercial paper, buying and selling domestic and foreign exchange, making collections, and generally
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exercises all the functions of a first-class banking institution. The First National is a synonym for stability and integrity. A statement of the con- dition of the bank at the close of business May 29, 1905, is as follows:
RESOURCES
· LIABILITIES
Loans.
57,595 43 Capital 25,000 00
U. S. Bonds and Premiums
10,437 50
Surplus 250 00
Banking house Fur. and Fix
3,000 00 Undivided Profits 2,329 79
Cash and Sight Exchange. 72,541 26 Circulation
10,000 00
Due from U. S. Treasurer . 500 00
Deposits. 106,494 40
$ 144,074 19 $ 144,074 19
GRABER, ALFRED A .- can rightfully boast of being one of the very first merchants in Burwell, for when he opened for business the only store on the townsite besides his own was the Becker store. He comes of good. sturdy Swiss ancestry, though born at Mount Eton, Ohio. Until he was 24 years old the young man worked out, helping his parents who were poor. But when he finally left home he drifted about considerably before settling in Garfield county. Thus we hear of him in Michigan. at Waverly, and Wahoo, Nebraska; in 1877, in western Kansas; then in 1879, toiling overland to the Black Hills with their dangers and gold. In 1880 he is back in his native state, though not to remain, for in 1883, we find him bor- ing wells at Wahoo, Nebraska. He next formed a partnership with a Swede and engaged in the hardware business at Meade. But Loup Valley history is of more interest to us. As we have said he built the second store in Burwell. This was a small structure 16x22 feet large, built at the corner of Milwaukee street and Grand Avenue. The store opened the 1st of June, 1884, with a $1200 stock of hardware most of which was gotten on credit. But Mr. Graber did well in business. He took an active part in the county seat election in 1884'85 and was instrumental in securing the writ of mandamus demanding a recount of votes. Associated with him in this were Cornwell, Ferguson, Smith, Mathews and other old-timers. Down through the years the business grew substantially till Mr. Graber found himself the proprietor of quite a department store. Thus in addition to hardware he handled farm implements and furniture, and became the town undertaker. On June 27, 1903, the store was struck by lightning and partially burned, causing a net loss of $3000. Instead of rebuilding Mr. Graber bought the stock and plant of B. J. Bunnell, which he again lately disposed of to Thomas Doran. Mr. Graber is nothing if not public spirit- ed. He has thus been a member of the village board for ton years, and a chief promoter in procuring for Burwell a system of waterworks. His wife was formerly Miss Louise Keller of Youngston, Ohio. With her bright little family of five children. three boys and two girls, she presides over the cozy Graber home situated in the northwest part of town.
HOLSON, DR. JOHN CLAUDE -- is one of the most successful dentists in this part of the state. He is an Iowan by birth having spent his early days in Iowa City. Here he received his early and higher education. A
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graduate of the city high school, he matriculated at the medical college of the state university of Iowa, pursuing the regular practitioner's course. From this he graduated in 1890. He then took a course in the Iowa State University Dental College, graduating in 1892. He opened his dental par- lors in Ord in the summer of 1896 making a specialty of crown and bridge work. In September. 1895, he was married to Rose I. Robbins and together they continued to make Ord their home till in 1903 they removed to Bur- well where they are nicely situated in their cosy home in the south part of town. Dr. Holson not alone takes care of the Burwell patients but has branch offices at Comstock, Taylor ard Greeley Center.
HEGNER & DOWNEY .- The firm of Hegner & Downey, dealers in farm and agricultural implements, though of com- paratively recent origin, is doing a remarkably good business. In fact it may be said that Hegner & Down- ey are today the only exclusive dealers in their line in Garfield county, having recently purchased the stock carried by other concerns of the same kind. Absolute honesty and strict business principles have won for the firm public confidence and given it a very enviable name. Theodore F. W. Hegner, the senior member of the firm, is a German by birth, coming from Alstadt, Germany, where he was born T. F. W. Hegner. March 22, 1865. He arrived at Grand Island, Nebr., with his parents when just six years old. Here his boyhood was spent. The public schools in those days were rather in their infancy, so that young Theodore's schooling was not of the best. A few years in carpentry and blacksmithing closed his career in Grand Island. Now follow some years of ranching and homesteading in Rock county. His marriage to Miss Edna Akins was solemnized June 28, 1893, of which union two children are now living. Mr. Hegner seems to have preferred his early profession to farm- ing for in 1893 he opened a blacksmith shop at Long Pine, coming to Bur- well in 1895, continuing the same line here. He still owns his Burwell shop though not working it himself
The firm of Hegner & Downey was organ- ized in March, 1905, though Mr. Hegner had already been in the business a year when the change was made. Fred A. Downey was born in Buchanan county, Iowa, June 26, 1870. He lived there till he was seven years old and then came to Knox county, Ne- braska. Here some nine years were spent in school and on the farm. After spending four years near Norfolk farming, he moved to Inman, where he mar- ried Miss Delia Halloran. The
Mr. and Mrs. F. A. Downey.
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family arrived at Burwell in 1895 and spent ten years in farming near town. As stated above he entered the Implement business of Hegner & Downey a few months ago. Aside from carrying a full line of farm and agricultural implements, the firm handles buggies and harness of all kinds.
JANES & SONS -One of the old timers of the Loup doing a good business at Burwell is B. F. Janes of the successful firm of Janes & Co. He is an old Waushara county, Wisconsin, man, from the earliest date associ- ated with the North Loup colony from that county. His father gave his life for his country during the Civil War, and thus the care of a widowed mother fell to B. F. and his brothers. He moved to North Loup in the early seventies and was for many years identified with North Loup in various business enterprises. Thus he engaged in livery and dray business and pursued carpentry for some time. Later be operated a skating rink at Ord. Then in turn he took a homestead near Kent, where he lived for some years. Becoming tired of the farm he moved to Burwell where he tried his hand at the harness trade and sale of implements. Not until the fall of 1900 did he launch upon the business which he is now pursuing the general merchandise business. He started in with a small stock worth about $500.00, but soon built up a nice trade. Clayton MeGrew now became associated with him in the business. In the spring of 1901 they bought out McMullen & Conrad; later in the year Mr. McGrew retired from the firm, whereupon William, son of B. F. Janes, came in as a junior member. During the last four years this firm has had a steadily increasing business and today carry one of the best and most complete stock of general mer- chandise in the city.
STACY, EARL-now one of the most successful watchmakers and jewellers in our Valley, is an Ord prodnet, having been born there on the 16th of September, 1881. Here he grew up and was schooled. For a pro- fessional course he attended a practical school in watchmaking in the east and soon found lucrative employment in the Bell Watch Factory at Cleve- land, Ohio As a reward of thrift and ability he was soon promoted to be foreman in one of the shops, which position he held for nearly two years. Hearing the call of the west he returned to his boyhood home and was for some time engaged with E. L. Gard at Ord. December 1, 1904, he moved to Burwell and opened a first class jewelry shop and watchmaking estab- lishment there. He carries a very fine and complete stock and has the confidence of the community in which he now moves and works.
THURSTON, EUGENE D., M. D -was born at Richford, Wisconsin, September 3, 1859. Here he spent his boyhood and received his early education. When he was fifteen years old his parents came to Nebraska and arrived at Valley county in June, 1875. The elder Thurston bought the homestead and timber claim entered by Grandpa J. C. Collins in 1873, and located just east of Ord on the Springdale road. The dwelling house
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on the homestead was constructed from sawed cedar logs and was covered with red cedar shingles. The two quarters were bought for $500 then. It is interesting to know that now these farms could not be bought for $20,000. Young Eugene came to the valley early enough to see antelope shot on the townsite of Ord. Thus he states that on a certain day in 1876 "Art" Stacy shot three of these delusive animals just about where the pub- lic square now is. But those days are past. In 1880 Mr. Thurston en- tered the Methodist Episcopal Seminary at York and remained there for some time. He later matriculated at the College of physicians and sur- geons at Keokuk, only later to shift to the Medical Department of the Uni- versity of Nebraska, wherefrom he graduated in 1884. He hung out his shingle at Taylor in 1886 where he remained-barring a short stay at Eugene, Oregon -- till he moved to Burwell in 1900 to take the practice of the late Dr. Cameron. He married Minnie Davis in 1893. They have two children, a boy and a girl. Dr. Thurston is known far up and down the river as a careful, painstaking physician and jolly good fellow. He is a brother of "Herb" Thurston, an early-day sheriff of Valley county, who is now located at Longmont, Colorado.
TODD, WILLIAM Z .- editor of the Burwell Tribune, was born in Jones county, Iowa, September 28, 1866. When he was but four years old the Todd family moved to Cedar county where William remained till he was twenty years old, attending school and working in his father's law office. Mr. Todd came to Neligh, Nebraska, in 1883, and took a homestead in Wheeler county the next year. In 1888 he was induced by business men of Willow Springs to start the Willow Springs Enterprise in that town, to counteract the influence of growing Burwell. But when two years later the exodus to the latter town began Mr. Todd moved his printing estab- lishment thither and founded the Garfield Enterprise. His public activity is from this time on chronicled in the chapter on "the Newspaper in the Valley." In August, 1892, he married Mollie Mckenzie. They have two children, a boy and a girl.
WICKS, ROBERT G .- the genial proprietor of the Racket Store, lo- cated at the corner of Grand Avenue and Webster Street, has had a most romantic life story. Born at Farnham, England in 1867, he took to the sea at the early age of 13. In his voyaging he soon became familiar with the ports of the Mediterranean and the Levant. He has sailed through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean and all the Indies reached by the latter. Indeed, he can boast of having seen all the continents of our earth. Barring the distance from Adelaide to SanFrancisco, he has cir- cumnavigated the globe. But Mr. Wicks is inclined to be a little modest when taking about these, his early wanderings. Mere chance decided his coming to America and the United States. It was "heads," America and "tails" Austrailia. "Heads" won and the Loup added a good citizen to its population. He arrived at the small English colony on the Middle Loup, near Arcadia in 1886, But he soon tired of life there and went to Chicago and entered the employ of the Armours. But he longed for the open
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plains of Nebraska and again he returned to the Loup, this time to Bur- well, and immediately engaged in the general merchandise business. This was June 1, 1890. His first store-building, the so-called Jerry Schuyler building, measured only 18x20, but readily accommodated his small first stock. In course of a few years the business grew to such an extent that a new building became necessary. Accordingly he moved into the capa- cious quarters now in use. He has also enjoyed a large trade from the Sar- gent country. So the extension of the B. & M. from Arcadia naturally. worked him considerable harm. However, he has an excellent business as things are and is very prosperous. He owns some five hundred acres of farm land under rent and has just completed an elegant home which has cost him at least $4,000. Mrs. Wicks was formerly Miss Addie L. Myers. They were married in 1892 and have four children, one boy and three girls.
JOHNS & MITCHELL-Burwell is well supplied with up-to-date gen- eral merchandise stores. One of the most prominent of these is operated by the well known firm of Johns & Mitchell. The senior member of the firm has been written up elsewhere in this work and may be passed by here. The junior member, Robert J. Mitchell, was born in New York state, in 1864, getting his early schooling in the old log school house there. At 18 years of age he moved to Holyoke, Mass., and remained there till 1889. In that year he came to Burwell and began farming. He took a homestead in Loup county and spent five years there. Two years were again spent in Massachusetts, after which he entered the mercantile busi- ness. This he did by purchasing the stock of J. R. Alderman & Son, which he moved to the old "Michel Store." Later he formed a partner- ship with Ed. M. Tunnicliffe, then county clerk. Mr. Mitchell married Miss Nannie E. Alderman, November 24, 1892, and has an interesting fam- ily of one son and three daughters. The firm remained as Mitchell & Tunnicliffe till July 5, 1904, when Mr. Mitchell sold out to Will Johns. But in February, 1905, Mr. Tunnicliffe retired and Mr. Mitchell again entered the firm, now as the junior member. When Robert Mitchell launched the business six years ago he had a stock worth $600. By careful and correct business methods this stock has increased till it is now ten or twelve times as large. A full line of general merchandise, always fresh and up to-date is kept on hand. Johns & Mitchell have succeeded because worthy of suc- cess.
KEY, FARAN M .- was born in Adair county, Iowa, on November 19, 1863. When eleven years old he left his home state and with his parents moved around considerably. Thus we find him in Cowley county, Kansas, later in Benton county, Arkansas, and then back again in Iowa. When 24 years old he married Miss Annie Wright who became the mother of two children. She died in 1893. From his second marriage Mr. Key has five children making in all seven. He came to Garfield county in 1888 and im- mediately pre-empted a quarter section of land, and in 1901 filed upon his homestead. Mr. Key is a popular and public spirited man. He was elect-
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ed sheriff by the populist party in 1901 and re-elected two years later. He has engaged in the implement business, but at the present gives all his time to the plumbing business, and sinking of wells and erection of wind- mills. The deepest well in the county-325 feet-has been sunk by him. A sketch of Mr. Key would not be complete without mentioning his busi- ness with the U. S. government. The star mail routes of the upper valley have been for years in his hands. Thus he contracted to carry the mail from Burwell to Taylor and Almeria in 1894 and still controls that route. 'He has likewise the Blake route, and he had the prime route-from Bur- well to the mouth of Gracie Creek-till it was discontinued.
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